Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-24

not bank in this country that could not
be wrecked If the tellers, or other of the
officials, were to comv.ae in q dishonest
act. Our bank has been carefully con-
Quoted, and the funds invested in regis
tered securities. But there is no for
casting misfortunes Of this Kind. What
one holds to be chief element of
strength may develop into special dan
ger. 1t cannot be prevented"
"This may sll be, gentlemen" the de-
tective replied, "but it does not alt g
fact that banker ought to be nine-tenths
suspicious, to one-tenth of all other
qualities. He should know not only his
employees, but their friends snd asso-
ciates. Such knowledge may cost money
to get, but it will repay its cost s thou
sandfold. And his vigilance should never
be relaxed. A man who las been twenty
years in an Office should be watched Just
! as sharply as the man who came in last
week. Temptation prevails at the close
of career as often as at the beginning"
"Then you are seriously of opinion that
some one in the bank is involved2i
"Such thing is s.ways possible, sDd
must be considered. Have none of You
noticed anything strange in the conduct
of any clerk or employe during the last
few months? Has any depositor or &C
quaintance shown any curiosity about
the structure of the vault or the routine
| of business? Has tie vault itself ever
been tempered within"
| The latter question elected an import
ant and unexpected fact. 1t appeared
that some six months previous the cash
! ier, on attempting to open the safe in the
/ C,-T,iT hot ba
would not work. As he was certain he had
the numbers right, it was plain that
something was wrong with the lock itself.
A locksmith was sent for but he could do
nothing with it, ard at length an expert
was summoned, who proceeded systemat-
ically and at last got the door open. In
the course of these operations he made q
curious discovery, to which, however,
little weight was attached at the time.
Underneath the combination plate he
found small hole, drilled in such way
as to come in contact with the tumblers
of. the lock. The mouth of the hole had
been filed with putty of the same color
as the surface of the door, so that it WAS
only noticeable when the interior of the
lock was laid bare.
Such a revelation might well have
aroused the suspicious of bank mana
ger, and 1t did lead to some speculation,
which, however, resulted in nothing.
The expert, whose time was too much
occupied to allow OF his spending any of
it on surmises, probably thought that the
bank was aware of the existence of the
hole, and that it was made in some former
attempt to correct q disorder in the
mechanism. The bank, on the other hand,
failed to realize the real gravity of the
revelation, owing to it's having been so
indifferently referred to by the expert. II
was afterwards remembered that pOrtly
gentleman, about forty years of age,
wearing an amethyst ring on his finger,
had happened to enter the bank st tho
time the expert was at work to getbhange
for 500 bill, and that he remgfhed, sp
interested spectator of the procee din9gg
for couple of hours. ~
1t is at least reasonable conjectQre,"
observed the detective, ''that the mone7
you have lost found its way out through
the mole drilled under the combination
plate, small though it was. That hole
drilled by burglars; and in order to make
it, it seems certain that there must have
been some accomplice inside. 1t is true
that they carried off nothing; but thaSi8.
neither here nor there. They may haze
been disturbed at their work, or the9 ssey
nave only wished to look over the g1eund
before going at it in earnest. At all
events, it supports the theory that this.
robbery has been planned for some time.
past. And if that be so, it renders the tex
of unravelling the affair much more dfEi-
cult. Had everyone who had anything to
do with the doors of the bank or of the
vault been Swallowed we might bF-this
time have been in a position to aetSssf
owe cap, however, begin to shadoY
them now," remarked 8 director. -l01e
"There is great difference in the site,
alton now" was the reply. "Befores kee
money was here and the thieves were
not far off; now, the money is gone aud,
the thieves are naturally gone with it,land
some guilty employee, whoever hsTTnay
be, Will be on his good behavior for
long while to come. And even could we
fix upon any persons of whose guilt yE
were morally certain, it would by ne
means follow that we could establish
their guilt to the satisfaction eff jury"
CHOW is that?" inquired the director.
Because, next 10 their plans fer &C
complishing the wrong itself, bank bur
glars bestow their chief pains upon
schemes for escaping conviction and ar
rest. That is as much part of their
regular business as wrecking safe. EGf'
one witness that we could bring forward
to identify man there will be half a
dozen to prove an alibi. However, we
will do ou- best 4
eve place entire reliance in your en-
ergy and sagacity," was the reply. "Much
of the stolen property must have been in
the form of registered securities, and
those, presume, can be traced :"
"No doubt, if an attempt is made to1
negotiate them. But that is at lesssf
doubtful. These burglars are probs1y
old hands and know what they are eDout.
The usual course in such matters is for
the thieves to open negotiations with
view TO effecting compromise. Theyl
Will offer TO return the securities on cong
dition of receiving q certain percentage Of
their face value. And l may as well ask
you, right here, whether you would he
disposed to entertain any such prososhl?n
The directors consulted togetRer a feWs
moments 90 s55
awe are unanimously against any foSi6
of compromise" said the director @bo
had previously spoken, turning to the
defective. sour wish is iha5sotna thieves
saould DE vigorously pursued' iaed, if
possible brought to justieSs48d eanfshilet /
we are very much pleasM sssehe c5aclgai
sion you have arrived a.',f 7ztsa., - -
The detective bowsdAn acknokfetg- I
ment. "I shall takes my measures at
once he said, rising. meanwhile 1
should advise your obtaining correct
schedule of your losses, printing them in
the form of circular and sending copies
to every banking institution and police
station in the country .-IBy the way, have
Won sD auproxtp1Bte ida what YOUR losses